Gay pride festival moving into Detroit

**p1acebo** · February-15-11, 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by Gistok

When we do the downtown Movie Palace Tours in the summer, we are often there during the Caribbean Parade and Festival.... a festive occasion....

... a little more leather... and the downtown regulars won't know the difference.... LOL....

http://michpics.wordpress.com/2009/0...de-in-detroit/

Haha agreed man.

**EastsideQT** · February-15-11, 04:49 PM

Originally Posted by Hypestyles

If and when hart plaza [[or wherever) in Detroit is secured as the festival site, as the publicity starts to spread I wonder how long it will be before folks start carping at city council meetings and city charter commission meetings..

That should be very interesting meeting seeing as the President of the Detroit City Council is an "out" gay male.

**laphoque** · February-15-11, 06:47 PM

1. There are more gay bars in Detroit than Ferndale.
2. Detroit has the second oldest non-discrimination ordinance on the books after Ann Arbor.
3. Pride is about spreading a message and coming together. Hart plaza is a bigger forum.
4. Ferndale was about to charge Pride ~$15K to hold the fest there this year and Detroit's DDA gave pride $15K to move to Hart Plaza.
5. Detroit's had a black gay pride festival at Palmer Park. I'm hoping this can help bridge the communities. Although I think Hotter Than July will still be happening.

**EastsideQT** · February-15-11, 07:00 PM

Originally Posted by laphoque

1. There are more gay bars in Detroit than Ferndale.
2. Detroit has the second oldest non-discrimination ordinance on the books after Ann Arbor.
3. Pride is about spreading a message and coming together. Hart plaza is a bigger forum.
4. Ferndale was about to charge Pride ~$15K to hold the fest there this year and Detroit's DDA gave pride $15K to move to Hart Plaza.
5. Detroit's had a black gay pride festival at Palmer Park. I'm hoping this can help bridge the communities. Although I think Hotter Than July will still be happening.

I concur with each and every one of your points!!

DetroitDad · February-15-11, 08:26 PM

This is a much needed step in the right direction for both Detroit, and the festival. Detroit shows it is more open and accepting of all, and the festival benefits from being Downtown. Generally, Downtowns are best suited for these kind of cultural celebrations. Festivals and other regional draws are what belongs in a downtown, in general.

This stance is based more on the basis of regional downtowns vs. suburbs, rather than Detroit's downtown vs. Detroit's suburbs. I think this strategy [[regional downtowns vs. suburbs) has worked well as better collective cultural centers, in other cities. Because of it's success elsewhere, I think this is arguably a good direction for Metro Detroit to head.

**RickBeall** · February-15-11, 09:24 PM

Ha ha, Gistok, I like your style. I always used to enjoy the Caribbean Parade.

**bailey** · February-16-11, 09:48 AM

Just for the sake of discussion....since rarely are gay issues discussed around here anymore.

1. There are more gay bars in Detroit than Ferndale.

That is very true... however, how many of them are in areas one would go to if there wasn't a gay bar there? How many of them, if you didn't know they were there, could you identify as actually being a gay or gay friendly place? Heck, how many of them could you say, just by looking at them from the outside, were still in business? Half of them barely even have legible signage.

Its an oldie...and he's long been banned from this forum...but I suggest checking out Supergay's Blight tour of Detroit Gay bars part's one and two.
http://supergaydetroit.blogspot.com/...y-bars-of.html

Pretty sad collection. And, in 2011, that is just as much an indictment of the gay community willing to patronize these places as it is of anything.

2. Detroit has the second oldest non-discrimination ordinance on the books after Ann Arbor.

Detroit is also a sanctuary city for illegal aliens. I think Detroit protects about as many illegals from harsh treatment as it does gay people from discrimination. Is it a laudable sentiment? sure and it's appreciate. but what does it really do when the LBGT climate in Michigan is terrible?

3. Pride is about spreading a message and coming together. Hart plaza is a bigger forum.

Is the location about economics or spreading messages? IF it could have been 2 days in Ferndale on more of 9 mile at the same cost...would it have moved?

4. Ferndale was about to charge Pride ~$15K to hold the fest there this year and Detroit's DDA gave pride $15K to move to Hart Plaza.

See #3. Is it about the message or about the cost?

5. Detroit's had a black gay pride festival at Palmer Park. I'm hoping this can help bridge the communities. Although I think Hotter Than July will still be happening.

HTJs/BPS' Mission statement is about being "committed to promoting and nurturing pride among black same gender loving, gay, lesbian, bi-attractional and transgender people of African descent in Southeast Michigan and beyond through the celebration of culture, self-identity and empowerment." HTJ is apparently something that is serving a need in a community by being a stand alone event. Does a bridge need to be built here? Is it a bit patronizing to say that they need to make that event happen with, or at MCP?

I hope it works out at Hart Plaza I really do. I definitely will be going to check it out... I haven't gone to Ferndale in a while , because, it was kind of sedate as far as Pride's go and once you'd been a few times...well, there is only so much standing around a parking lot you can do once you've walked the one block of street fair. I hope it plants some seeds in people's heads that Detroit needs and can support a gayborhood. I hope it shows the community as a whole that it need not accept a few seedy gay bars shotgunned around the city as the end all be all.

**Danny** · February-16-11, 02:04 PM

Oh Oh! Here comes the anti-Gay folks raining on their parade!

**EastsideAl** · February-16-11, 05:37 PM

A good move. Downtown is the heart of the metro area, and this will help to make the Pride festival a wider regional event. As noted above, several neighborhoods in the city have had a significant gay population for years. Goodness knows Indian Village and the West Village have for more than 50 years. And so, if nothing else, a return to the city is a return to the historical roots of the SE Michigan's gay community. Going all the way back to when the eastern part of downtown and the riverfront were the largely secret haven for the gay people of earlier eras.

**JenniferL** · February-18-11, 12:52 AM

Motor City Pride grew too big for downtown Ferndale. You couldn't walk down the street without stepping on someone's heels or getting an elbow in your face. They need more room, plain and simple. So their choice was to either expand it by closing more streets or else move to a larger venue. Arts, Beats, & Eats in Royal Oak needs to do likewise. The crowds there were so thick that you could not see anything but people, people, and more people.

DetroitDad · February-19-11, 11:31 PM

I posted this story to my FaceBook, and got some negative comments from my own mother, of all people. She asked me why I would look at this as a good thing for Detroit. I nonchalantly responded that it was better visibility for said group, and helped show Detroit in a progressive forward thinking and accepting light.

I think maybe we will attend that festival this year.

**Al Publican** · February-20-11, 01:02 AM

Curious how a gay festival in will be received by Afrocentric Baptists in Detroit. During my half century of living in Detroit [[City of) the biggest industry in Detroit [[religion) has always gone xenophobic anytime competition has popped up. And as a result, the small business class made of up Detroit residents has become nearly non-existent. Small business ownership presents a secular/cultural threat to the church in Detroit.

Good luck with the organizers of the gay festival in Detroit. They will have to run permits for such an event through the byzantine bureaucracy of Detroit, that I was once part of, in order to pull it off with. The 'centrics in City Hall and the church will be of little help, as has been the case when most outsiders have shown interest in doing things in Detroit.

**jerrytimes** · February-20-11, 02:15 PM

I'd like to know why anyone cares about a gay parade. I'd like to know why there even has to be a parade based on someones sexual orientation. Oh well, as long as it brings more into the city it's all good.

**SaintMe** · February-20-11, 02:46 PM

Originally Posted by jerrytimes

I'd like to know why anyone cares about a gay parade. I'd like to know why there even has to be a parade based on someones sexual orientation. Oh well, as long as it brings more into the city it's all good.

Why do you care? There doesn't "have to be" a parade, some people like to celebrate things that are important to them. It's also an opportunity for people to get together and have fun, regardless of what is being celebrated. Ever been to a Paczki Day celebration in Hamtramck? It's a party focused on celebrating a f^cking donut. There doesn't "have to be" a party, but it has meaning to a certain group of people, even if you don't understand it, and dammit they want to have some fun.

**bailey** · February-20-11, 03:26 PM

Originally Posted by jerrytimes

I'd like to know why anyone cares about a gay parade. I'd like to know why there even has to be a parade based on someones sexual orientation. Oh well, as long as it brings more into the city it's all good.

I'd like to know why anyone cares about a St Patrick's day parade. I'd llike to know why there even has to be a parade based on someones [[alleged) Irish heritage. Oh well, as long as it brings more drunken louts and public urination into the city, it's all good.

**Zacha341** · February-21-11, 06:38 AM

'Affirmation' and celebration. That is the reasoning and impetus for most themed events and festivals.

Originally Posted by jerrytimes

...I'd like to know why there even has to be a parade based on someones sexual orientation.

**jeanofarc** · February-21-11, 09:54 AM

Its coming downtown and I can bike there? All the money is going to the Pride Fest and vendors, instead of established businesses? Opportunities for those who normally do not get exposure or business opportunities? Detroiters feeling comfortable coming out to it, instead of taking risks by traveling to Ferndale? Chaps and bare skin? More multi-cultural attendance and participation because it is a metropolitan city? Afterparties? Weekend packages of entertainment? Downtown hotels booked, couchsurfing and social sites teeming with activity? Queers from all over checking out Detroit for the whole weekend? Oh my can it get any better than this???